Community News - Macmillan Online Community

The recurring fear of recurrence

"Whatever your prognosis, whatever your hopes, whatever your personality, the second that you know that you have cancer your life changes irrevocably." It seems to be a common experience that once cancer treatment finishes, the anxieties and fears around recurrence become heightened. We regularly see conversations about recurrence, or worries of recurrence, on the community and how much this can impact your wellbeing and mental health. It’s natural to worry about cancer coming back, and it’s something that our Community members support each other with here on the site. "The fear of recurrence is troubling me, I realise whole heartedly I’m so lucky and I’m trying to be positive but I don’t want to ignore the impact of the treatment had on my well-being." Community member "I feel worse…

Ellen - Macmillan
November is lung cancer awareness month - 'we're all here to support each other'

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. When you or your loved one has lung cancer, it's important you can find the right emotional support. In this Community News blog, we'll be highlighting the support shared in the Community's lung cancer forum and sharing some other ways you can find help. The Online Community's lung cancer forum is an online support group. It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and you can find support from people who understand. Because they've been there themselves. You might be looking for tips to help you get the best from your cancer nurse and healthcare team or ideas around coping with side effects and improving quality of life. You might just need to talk. Whatever support you're looking for, the lung cancer forum is here for you. “We are all here to support…

Steph - Online Community Team
Has your speech or voice changed after a cancer diagnosis or cancer treatment?

November is Mouth Cancer Action Month , an awareness month organised by the Oral Health Foundation. In today’s blog around mouth cancer, we’re talking about speech and voice changes. Speech changes can depend on where your cancer is, and the type of treatment you have. Speech and voice changes don’t only affect people with mouth cancer. You may also experience changes if you have laryngeal cancer or oesophageal cancer, amongst other diagnoses. For some people, speech changes are temporary, and their speech or voice returns to normal after their treatment. For others, some treatments can cause permanent changes to the way they speak. If you’ve been affected by speech or voice changes in any way, the Online Community is here for you. Talking about what you are going through can be an important…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Pancreatic cancer awareness and support information

Have you or someone you love been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer? If so, then this blog will be useful for you to read. We’re sharing support information and highlighting some of the conversations members of the Community have had recently. November is Pancreatic Cancer awareness month, so we’d like to take some time to show you that the Online Community is here to support you every day of the year. Even if you’re not affected by Pancreatic cancer, you may be interested to hear how members of the Community support each other. What is Pancreatic cancer? The video below (02:21 minutes) is an abdominal surgeon name Charles, talking about Pancreatic cancer. If you need more information and guidance around symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options for pancreatic cancer, please visit the…

Megan- Online Community Team
Cancer & Me 35 Years On – ‘against all odds we can survive’

Willo is back today with the final Instalment of her blog series, ‘Cancer and me 35 years on’. Willo is a member of our Community who was diagnosed with Anal cancer in 1986 while living in Zambia. In this blog series Willo has been sharing her experience of living through and beyond cancer. Alongside sharing everything she has been through, Willo has also been sharing the amazing artwork she created during this time in her life. We shared Willo's first blog, ‘ To begin at the beginning ’ back In May 2020, and over the last 18 months, Willo has talked about everything she has been through. From moving back to England for treatment, her Abdominoperineal Resection , going back to art school post-surgery and the amazing friends and family that helped her through. When Willo first started her…

Former Member
Introducing Community badges!

Introducing our new Community badges! We are really excited to be able to share with you today a new feature on the online Community, our Community badges. Our Community badges are not only a new way for our members to quickly identify the Community team, and our Community Champions, but also a way to celebrate you and the amazing support you provide each and every day on the Community. We have three badges which we are going to be launching, and we wanted to tell you more about each of these badges below. Staff badge This badge is for Macmillan’s Community team. The Community team are Macmillan staff that are dedicated to running the Community. The Community team are available 7 days a week and are here to support you. This badge will only be given to members of Macmillan’s Community…

Former Member
Are you feeling better, or just distracted?

For people affected by cancer, managing your mental well-being is an ongoing challenge. Distraction can play a useful part in that. Distraction can mean different things to different people, talk of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ distractions can be confusing for those just looking to take a break from worry or stress. The last year and a half with coronavirus has made it even more challenging for cancer patients, and their family and friends, to find effective distractions. In today’s Community News Blog, we’re talking about distractions, be they ‘good’ or ‘bad’. 'Good' Distractions We wanted to start by sharing a poem by one of our members, Bluebell Woods . TV. Day time. Quiz shows, news, Real Deals. Breakfast TV, loose woman? Maybe not at that stage, yet. Granny. Blankets. Graduating to a hat. Nothing…

Tom C - Online Community team
Cancer and fatigue. When do you start feeling less tired?

In our recent Community News Blog 'Awake and can't sleep? Some help with getting through the night' we addressed the issue of difficulty sleeping. We shared conversations from members around the Community around sleeplessness and getting support through the night. If this might be helpful to you, you can catch up with Eliza's blog here. You don't need to be experiencing difficulty sleeping to feel tired when you have cancer. Cancer itself and cancer treatment can both cause extreme tiredness, also known as 'fatigue'. We know that many of you come to the Community looking for support with managing your energy levels and improving your quality of life. In this Community News Blog, we'll be sharing some conversations, tips and support about fatigue shared around the site. Fatigue means feeling…

Steph - Online Community Team
Awake and can't sleep? Some help with getting through the night

Difficulty sleeping, also known as insomnia, can be hard to deal with. If you or a loved one has a cancer diagnosis, not getting enough sleep can sometimes cause additional difficulties. The Online Community is here for you at any time in the day or night. Sleep problems may be caused by how you’re feeling emotionally, or as part of the side effects for cancer treatment. If you find it hard to have a good sleep, you’re not alone. Here in Community News, we’re here to help you find support. Macmillan has information and support around insomnia and having difficulty sleeping on our website . This webpage discusses different sleep problems, how a lack of good sleep can affect you and how you can change your sleep habits to potentially help you to sleep better. “I think night times are often…

Eliza -Online Community Team
Breast cancer awareness month

October is Breast cancer awareness month around the UK and as part of this, we'd like to feature what’s discussed in our Breast cancer forums here on the Community. The different Breast cancer forums have around 11,725 members who offer each other support every day, including all hours of the night. If you’ve visited the Breast cancer forums you will have seen there’s lots of discussions about symptoms, treatment options and side effects. There’s also lots of friendly and reassuring support so stay and read the rest of the blog if you’re thinking of joining, or if you’re looking for some support. “It’s always helpful just to know you’re not alone and to talk about it so thank you for replying.” Community member, BRACA positive forum “I think being able to talk to someone that has been…

Megan- Online Community Team
September Community Catch up

Let’s take a look back at what’s been happening on the Community over the last month. Not everyone is logged onto the site everyday and with so many people coming to one place to access support, it can take some time to catch up with what’s been going on over the past few weeks. This month we welcomed 2,041 new members to the Online Community. With more and more people joining the site, we are seeing more people share experiences. Cancer patients, loved ones and carers posted 3,147 replies which shows how much support is offered from you, our members, every day. There are many different reasons for visiting the Community, but once you're here, you’ll find that you’re not alone in dealing with your situation. There are thousands of people sharing their experiences and offering a comforting…

Megan- Online Community Team
MDS, MPN, ET, PV and MF - support with rarer blood cancers

September was 'blood cancer awareness month' and we shared a Community News blog about the support available on the Community. You can catch up here , if you haven’t yet had a read. We’re following up on September's blood cancer awareness blog to let you know we’ve created a new forum for rarer blood cancers. You can find the new myelodysplasia (MDS) & myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) forum within the ' other cancers group' here on the Community. If you’re looking for support with myelodysplasia (MDS) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) including essential thrombocythaemia (ET), polycythaemia vera (PV) and myelofibrosis (MF), the Community now has a dedicated space for you. When you or your loved one are diagnosed with one of these rarer blood cancers, it's likely that you hadn't…

Steph - Online Community Team

Awake and up all night?

We know that cancer can sometimes cause sleepless nights. Join our Cancer Chat forum for some company here in the 'Awake and up all night' thread.

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